Connector device for use in monitoring fetal heart rate

ABSTRACT

A connector attached to an end of a twisted wire pair, whose other end has fetal and maternal electrodes. A driving tube is removed from the twisted wire pair by pulling a drive handle and driving tube over the connector. The outer diameter of the connector is smaller than the inner diameter of the driving tube. After the connector is free, it is inserted into a housing of a leg plate, which electrically interconnects terminals of the connector and thereby the electrodes with a remote monitoring device. The housing has finger grips to help hold the housing during the insertion of the connector. The leg plate also has a base which is held in position against a mother&#39;s leg and has a ground electrode which is also electrically interconnected with the device. The housing is rotatable relative to the base.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/605,843, filed Oct.30, 1990 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,432.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fetal electrode product monitoringfetal heart rate. More particularly, the invention relates to animproved connector device for interconnecting a remote fetal monitoringdevice and a bipolar fetal electrode product.

U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,990, which is incorporated herein by reference,discloses the bipolar fetal electrode product commonly used to monitorfetal heart rate during birth. In the use of that product, a doctorinserts the forward end of a curved guide tube through the mother'svagina and cervix until the forward end of the guide tube makes contactwith the fetal head or other portion of the fetus. Holding the forwardend of the guide tube stationary, the doctor then pushes the rear end ofa flexible driving tube forwardly until a spiral fetal electrode at theforward end of one wire of a twisted wire pair makes contact with thefetal epidermis. The forward end of the other wire is connected to aspade-like maternal electrode which is electrically isolated from thespiral fetal electrode.

The doctor then rotates the flexible driving tube clockwise about onefull turn while maintaining the forward end of the guide tube againstthe fetal head. This will screw the spiral electrode into the fetalepidermis. Thereafter, the doctor removes his fingers from the mother'svagina, grasps the outer ends of the driving tube and the guide tube,and slides these tubes as a unit off the wires, leaving only the bipolarelectrodes and the two twisted wires within the mother.

The proximal ends of the wires are then connected to a suitableapparatus for monitoring fetal heart rate. Such an apparatus isdiscussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,121, the contents of which are alsoincorporated by reference and which shows a cable assembly for effectingelectrical connection between the electrodes and the fetal monitor. Agalvanic potential difference may then be measured between the bipolarelectrodes. The wires connected to the electrodes are twisted about eachother so that any induced voltages caused by external electromagneticinterference will be the same in each and therefore will not adverselyaffect the measurement of the galvanic potential difference between theelectrodes.

In practice, the ends of the twisted wires are left uninsulated, e.g. byas much as 5/8 inch to 3/4 inch, to allow connection to the monitor andto enable removal of the guide and driving tubes from the twisted wires.

Manually connecting the uninsulated ends of the twisted wire pair to thebase plate is somewhat cumbersome and creates the possibility that thewires may unintentionally short each other. If shorted, the wires willbe unable to transmit correct signals from the fetal electrodes.

It would therefore be desirable to effect electrical interconnectionbetween the fetal and maternal electrodes and a remote fetal monitoringdevice without handling uninsulated ends of wires.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an arrangement for establishingelectrical connection between fetal and maternal electrodes and a remotefetal monitoring device. The arrangement includes a connector at theproximal end of a twisted wire pair, fetal and maternal electrodes atthe distal end of the twisted wire pair, and a removable driving tubewhich may be pulled over the connector.

It is preferred that the proximal end of the connector be tapered andthat an open ended, cone-like driving handle be arranged at the proximalend of the driving tube to facilitate removal of the driving tube bypulling. The driving tube may be pulled from the electrodes togetherwith the guide tube, which surrounds the driving tube.

The connector has electrical contacts which are electrically connectedto the proximal ends of the wires of the twisted wire pair. Theconnector is insertable into an opening of a housing of a leg plate soas to establish contact between the connector contacts and electricalcontacts in the leg plate housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the following description and accompanying drawings while the scopeof the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the forward end of a bipolar fetalelectrode product in accordance with the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the improved connector incorporated in afetal monitoring system and illustrating a leg plate which may be eitherdisposable or reusable;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line 3--3 ofFIG. 2 showing a leg plate which has a reusable housing detachablyconnected to a disposable adhesive pad;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4a is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4a--4a of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-section of the electrode assembly showingthe guide and driving tubes being removed from the connected fetalelectrode.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a reusable leg plate with provisions for theattachment of monitor and fetal electrode leads.

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of the leg plate of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view as if taken along the line3--3 of FIG. 2, except that for this embodiment, the housing andadhesive pad are fixed to each other.

FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic schematic of another embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows the forward or distal end 2 of a conventional fetalelectrode product in accordance with U.S. Patent No. Re. 28,990. Thefetal electrode product includes a guide tube 4, driving tube 6 which isof a smaller diameter than that of the guide tube 4, and a twisted pairof wires 8 the distal ends of which are connected to respective fetaland maternal electrodes 10, 12. A nonconductive plastic holder 14electrically insulates the fetal and maternal electrodes 10 and 12 fromeach other.

The fetal electrode 10 is in the form of a spiral electrode having apointed end which is driven into contact with the fetal epidermis. Thematernal electrode 12 is engageable by slots 16 at the forward end ofthe driving tube 6 to enable the pointed end of the fetal electrode 10to rotate anti be driven into the fetal epidermis E (see FIG. 5) byrotation of the driving tube 6.

After the spiral electrode 14 has engaged the fetus, the guide anddriving tubes 4, 6 may be pulled and removed from the mother, leavingthe electrode head and twisted wire pair 8 in the birth canal. In theprior art, the proximal ends (not shown in FIG. 2) of the twisted wirepair were uninsulated bare wire for enabling connection to electricalterminals on a leg plate.

FIGS. 2-4 show a connector 20 attached to the proximal ends of thetwisted wire pair 8 in accordance with the invention. The connector 20has electrically conductive ring-shaped contacts 22, 24 which areconnected to uninsulated ends 26, 28, respectively (see FIG. 4) of thetwisted wire pair 8. The contracts 22, 24 may extend around the entirecircumference of the connector 20 and are axially spaced apart from eachother to avoid electrical contact therebetween.

A drive handle 18 defines a passage 19 (see FIG. 5) in communicationwith the inner passage defined by the driving tube 6. The driving tube 6is jam fit into handle 18 along an inner taper of handle 18 that extendstoward a stepped surface of the handle 18 (see FIG. 5).

Handle 18, which has a cone-like shape facing rearwardly, facilitatespulling of the driving tube 6 off the twisted wire pair 8. The proximalend 21 of the connector 20 is tapered to fit within the tapered proximalend of handle 18 and thereby travel within the driving tube 6 withoutjamming.

A leg plate 30 (FIG. 2) includes a housing 32 with an opening 34, whichis adapted to receive the connector 20 after the driving and guide tubesare removed. Concavely curved finger grips 36 are provided on eitherside of the housing 32. These grips 36 facilitate holding of the housingwhile inserting the connector 20 into the opening 34. The bottom of thehousing 32 includes a circular plate 35.

The outside diameter of the connector body 20 is smaller than the insidediameter of the driving tube 4. Thus, the guide and driving tubes 4, 6may be pulled together over the connector 20 and thereby removed fromtwisted wire pair 8 prior to connecting to leg plate 30.

As an additional feature, an opening 37 may be provided along the top ofthe housing 32. This opening 37 provides access for facilitatingcleaning of the electrical connections and further allows one tovisually verify that electrical connection has been made.

As seen in FIG. 2, the connector 20 is inserted into the opening 34 inthe direction indicated by the dashed lines. As better seen in FIG. 3,the opening 34 defines an elongated path of insertion for the connector20, which extends about a centerline. As best seen in FIG. 4a, contacts38, 40 lie radially outside the path with respect to a radial directionfrom the centerline.

After insertion of the connector 20 into the opening 34 as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, spring biased leg plate contacts 38, 40 within thehousing 32 electrically contact the ring-shaped contacts 22, 24,respectively. The proximal ends of the leg plate contacts 38, 40 formholding clamps which hold uninsulated ends of leads 42, 44,respectively. The leads 42, 44 extend through ribbon cable 46 (see FIG.2) to a signal receiving socket of a fetal monitoring device viainterengaging socket and plug connectors 48, 50, cord 52 and plug 54,which is adapted to be plugged into the fetal monitor. In a similarmanner, leads 41, 43, 45 (see FIG. 6), which will be described later,extend through the ribbon cable 46.

FIGS. 2 and 3 also show a base 56 snapped to the underside of thehousing 32 via a stud 58 within a snap compartment 60. The base 56 maybe an adhesively coated flexible pad made from foam material. In FIG. 3,the stud 58 is pushed between an opening periphery 62 in the undersideof the snap compartment until its top rounded end 64 clears the openingperiphery 62. In this position, the stepped transition area 66 of thestud 58 engages the opening periphery 62. During insertion, the openingperiphery 62 bends against the stud 58 into the position shown. Thebottom 68 of the stud 58 extends radially outward so as to sandwich thepad 56 between itself and the underside of the snap compartment 60.

The housing 32 is freely rotatable about the stud 58 with respect to thepad 56 in either the clockwise or counterclockwise directions indicatedby double arrow 69 (see FIG. 2). This rotation allows the housing 32 tobe oriented into any desired angular orientation. This rotatableconnection helps to avoid inadvertent disconnection of the removableconnector 20 from the leg plate 30 when, for instance, a doctor brushesagainst the twisted wire pair 8.

FIG. 5 shows the manner of removal of the guide and driving tubes 4, 6from the connector 20 and twisted wire pair 8. The spiral electrode 10is in contact with the fetal epidermis E. The tubes 4,6 are removed bypulling the driving handle 18 and guide tube 4 in the directionindicated by the direction arrows, i.e., in a direction away from thefetal and maternal electrodes 10, 12. After removal of the tubes, theconnector 20 is inserted into a leg plate.

FIG. 6 shows three leads 42, 43, 44 in electrical connection with leads70, 72 and 74, respectively (see also FIG. 3). Two other leads 41, 45(not shown in FIG. 3 for sake of brevity but arranged similar to thatshown FIG. 6) are unterminated to serve as shield wires to help shieldagainst stray induced voltages from electromagnetic interference and areelectrically connected to a chassis (not shown) of the monitoringdevice. The unterminated leads 41, 45 act like an antenna to pick upstray voltages in the vicinity and route them to the chassis, ratherthan allow the stray voltages to follow the path of the other wires.Leads 41, 45 also distribute capacitance from the other three leads 42,43, 44 via ribbon cable 46 to the chassis.

FIGS. 6 and 7 also show a leg plate 76, which has the same housing 32 asthat for the leg plate 30 of FIG. 3, except that the housing is attachedto a larger rectangular belt plate 78, rather than to an adhesive pad56. The belt plate 78 of FIG. 6 has a ground plate 80 welded onto thebase 68 (see FIG. 3) of the stud 58.

The belt plate 78 has a slot 82 for holding one end of a belt 84 asshown on one side and holed projections 86 with a pin 88 extendingthrough the holes in projections 86 for holding the other end of thebelt 84. The belt plate 78 snaps into the underside of the housing 32 inthe same way as does the pad 56 so as to enable the housing 32 to rotateabout the stud 58. Since the belt 84 is only snugly fit around themother's thigh and not too tight as to cause restriction of blood flow,the ground plate 80 must be larger than the base 68 of the FIG. 3embodiment needs to be in order to ensure that contact with mother's legis maintained.

The belt plate 78 is exemplified by Corometrics Medical Systems as partof leg plate model no. 260800A, C. A suitable leg plate belt 84 isexemplified by Corometrics Medical Systems as model no. 202300AA.

FIG. 6 also shows a plug 90 from which extends ribbon cable 46 and whichis fitted into a socket 92 of the leg plate 76. This differs from thehard wiring of leads 70, 72, 74 from ribbon cable 46 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 shows a view similar to that of FIG. 3 except that the stud 94has an undercut 96 in which is resiliently biased a snap spring 98.Spring 98 is retained in the snap compartment 60 and is ring-shaped todefine an opening therethrough.

In order to snap the stud 94 into place, the top rounded end 100 of thestud 94 is inserted through the opening defined by the snap spring 98and into the compartment 60. A cap 102 is on the top rounded end 100 ofthe stud 94. During this insertion, the snap spring 98 is forced toelastically expand outward by the cap 102 pressing against the snapspring 98 until the spring 98 clears the downwardly facing end 104 ofthe cap 102. The snap spring 98 thereafter resiliently closes againstthe undercut 96 to retain the stud 94 in position. If attempt is made topull the stud 94 out of the compartment 60, withdrawal of the stud 94 isprevented by the holding force of the spring 98. Thus, a permanentmechanical snapping securement is obtained.

A conductive gel 105 is applied to the base 106 of the stud 94. This gelwill contact the thigh of the mother. Although not shown in the otherembodiments, the gel 105 is applied to the bases of each of the otherembodiments as well. The bases 68, 106 or ground plate 80 serve asground electrodes.

In both FIGS. 3 and 8 embodiments, the snap compartment 60 iselectrically conductive and is in electrical contact with the stud 58 or94, which is also electrically conductive. Lead 72 has an uninsulatedend which is soldered to the snap compartment 60.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 2-4 and 8, the flexible adhesive pad 56 mayconform to the shape of the mother's leg when adhered to the leg. Aremovable sheet (not shown) may cover the adhesive on the underside ofthe pad 56 and then be removed when the pad 56 is to be applied to themother's leg. The adhesive pad 56 (see FIG. 8) may include a foammaterial 108 secured to a sturdier element 110, such as vinyl.

As should be apparent, for any embodiment, the ribbon cable 46 may beeither hard wired to the leg plate or may be plugged into a socket inthe leg plate. Also, either embodiment may employ either the permanentor detachable snap connection. The advantage of using the detachablesnap connection is that the housing may be reused; only the base whichis in direct contact with the patient will be discarded. Thus, any baseis interchangeable with another.

For all the leg plate embodiments, it is desirable to angle the inclineof the opening 34 in the housing 32 for receiving the connector 20 atabout eighteen degrees relative to the horizontal plane (or of theadhesive pad 56 or belt plate 78) so that insertion of the connector 20will not get in the way of the mother's leg. The side of the leg plateswhich receive the connector may be considered an input and the sidewhich effects connection with the remote monitoring device may beconsidered an output.

Preferably, the electrodes and electrical contacts and conductors aremade of nickel or gold plated copper or else gold plated over nickelplated copper. High density polyethylene (such as 12 melt Arco #7120 orChevron #9160 or petrothene LS 606 8 melt, density 0.96) is recommendedas the material for the guide and driving tubes 4, 6 handle 18 and thehousing 32. The conductors are preferably jacketed withpolyvinylchloride. All components may be made from the same materials asare described for their counterparts in the patents previously mentionedthat are incorporated herein by reference.

The outer diameter of the guide tube 4 must be small enough to avoidharming the mother during its insertion, such as about 0.315 inches. Theinner diameter of the driving tube 6 is about 0.146 inches. Thus, thewidth of the connector 20 must be less than 0.146 inches to fit withinthe driving tube 6. For example, the maximum diameter of connector 20may be 0.125 inches.

FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment of the leg plate which utilizes aprinted circuit board 112 that is fitted in the bottom of the housing.All interconnection leads are then soldered directly to contacts on theprinted circuit board below. The board is preformed so that all leadswill be ia alignment with respective contacts 114 after placing theboard in the housing. The printed circuit board may interconnect theappropriate contacts.

If desired, the housing may be prevented from rotating relative to thebase by providing projections from the base which block the housing fromrotating.

While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferredembodiments of the present invention, in will be understood that variouschanges and modifications may be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A fetal electrode product for use in monitoringfetal heart rate, said product being used in conjunction with a fetalmonitor coupling device supported on the mother's body and having ahousing with an opening, said product comprising:a fetal electrode, amaternal electrode and a holder made of an insulating material, saidelectrodes secured to said holder; a connector dimensioned and shaped tobe received in the opening in the coupling device housing and having atleast two contacts separated and electrically isolated from each other,said contacts positioned to make electrical contact with complementarycontact members in said coupling device; an insulated pair of elongatedflexible wires, each of said wires electrically connecting a respectiveone of said contacts to a respective one of said fetal and maternalelectrodes; an elongated, flexible driving member for rotating saidholder, the driving member being displaceable relative to the wires in adirection away from the electrodes; and a guide tube for receiving saiddriving member and wires, said driving member being rotatable withinsaid guide tube; wherein said connector has an outer dimension which isless than the inner diameter of the guide tube so as to allow theconnector to pass through the guide tube as the guide tube is pulled inthe direction away from the electrodes.
 2. A fetal electrode productaccording to claim 1, wherein said connector is elongated and made of aninsulating material, at least a proximal portion of said connector beingcylindrical, said contacts comprising axially spaced apart electricallyconductive rings on said cylindrical proximal portion of said connector,said wires extending within said connector and being electricallyconnected to respective ones of said conductive rings.
 3. A fetalelectrode product according to claim 2, wherein said connector includesa distal portion extending from said cylindrical proximal portion ofsaid connector on which said conductive rings are mounted.
 4. A fetalelectrode product according to claim 3, wherein said distal portion ofsaid connector is tapered from a larger diameter to a smaller diametersection in a direction away from said conductive rings.
 5. A fetalelectrode product according to claim 2, wherein said connector includesmeans cooperating with a complementary member in said coupling devicefor positioning said connector in a predetermined location within saidcoupling device.
 6. A fetal electrode product according to claim 1,wherein said connector is elongated and made of an insulating material,said contacts comprising axially spaced apart, electrically conductiverings, said wires extending within said connector and being electricallyconnected to respective ones of said conductive rings within saidconnector.
 7. A fetal electrode product according to claim 6, whereinsaid connector includes a distal portion tapered from a large diametersection to a small diameter section in a direction away from saidconductive rings.
 8. A fetal electrode product according to claim 6,wherein said connector includes means cooperating with a complementarymember in said coupling device for positioning said connector in apredetermined location within said coupling device.